The #1 Key To Consistent And Predictable New Home Sales In Any Market

When the market for new homes is on fire like it is today, it can feel like selling systems don’t matter.

After all, selling is easy, right?

“Build it and they will come”, we tell ourselves.

But NOW is the time to refine your systems and build the sales discipline to follow them.

It’s far easier to work out a sustainable system when sales require little effort.

If you wait until markets turn down again and the going gets tough — which you know it will, sooner or later — you’ll be scrambling for sales when what you really need is to be making sales…

Consistently and predictably.

Preparation Drives Results

Early in their careers, many new home sales professionals act as if the sales process begins when a prospect walks in the door.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

Today’s new home buying prospects have already educated themselves about your product, your community, and your company long before setting foot on your site.

If your sales pros aren’t prepared in advance to pick up the conversation with prospects where they need guidance and follow through to the close, opportunities will be lost.

You may not see the problem in today’s (relatively) easy selling environment, but without systematic preparation, when market demand falters, so will your sales.

So how do assure a consistent and predictable sales flow?

We’ve found the following three sales practices to be as essential for sales professionals as passing drills for a quarterback and his receivers.

1. Follow The Formula

Selling success in any field is all about the numbers.

In new home sales, the formula for success is simply to hit three weekly targets:

8 Appointments
5 Showings
1 Sale

Each Appointment must check three boxes. It must have a time, a date and a purpose. Being clear on the purpose when setting the Appointment means everyone knows what to expect. A successful Appointment leads to a Showing.

On average you can expect about a 62.5% conversion rate from Appointments to Showings. If you’re not hitting that average consistently, look at your Appointments to make sure the purpose was clearly spelled out and that it includes a reason for urgency.

Sales don’t happen without Showings. For every five Showings, you can expect to make at least one Sale. Get the Showings in and Sales will happen. From there, it’s just a matter of mastering the Showing to increase your Sales per Showing rate.

Follow this formula and your Sales will become consistent and predictable.

It really is that simple.

2. Stack The Deck

Once your team is consistently following the formula I just described, here are three ways you can “stack the deck” for even greater success:

Set Appointments Strategically. Schedule the most promising appointments for Saturday, an hour before you open. If you open at 10am, set the appointment for 9am. This gives the impression you’re really busy and may create a sense of obligation in your prospects. In addition, it frees up your team from appointments during the busiest times so they can capture new traffic.

Overlap Appointments Slightly. By overlapping appointments, your prospects see that others are interested in buying in your community, or even possibly the same home they’re interested in. This not only creates a sense of “Social Proof” for your prospects, it gives them a sense of natural, believable urgency to act — critical to the sale.

Demonstrate a High Level of Buyer Activity. Excitement is contagious. When prospects see a lot of activity in your community, they naturally want to be a part of the action. Set the stage with flags or buttons on a site map showing properties sold… Keep a stack of closing document folders (neatly) piled in “The Closing Zone”, where sales are closed… Schedule appointments at closer intervals as buyers move toward the close… When people get a sense there’s only a little left of a good thing and it’s going fast, they want in.

Which leads us to…

3. Build Urgency And Obligation

Why do buyers buy?

Especially when purchasing a new home, three emotions cause prospects to buy:

They want to fill a need they believe will improve the quality of their lives.
They feel a sense of obligation to take action.
They fear loss and feel a sense of urgency.

The most successful new home sales professionals do everything possible to nurture these feelings in their prospects.

The motivation to improve their lives is already there, but by connecting that need with how your community and product fulfills it, you are moving them toward a decision to buy from you.

Top sales pros create a sense of obligation by doing something special for their prospects, going “above and beyond” to help them in some way and generally creating a feeling of good will and reciprocity.

For example, if they’re interested in a particular model that’s not currently available at your site, show them other communities to create a sense that you’re trying hard to help them get what they want.

We’ve already talked about several ways to create a sense of urgency. Others include letting buyers know others are interested in the home site they were looking at…

Placing landscaping flags at the four corners of the home to show activity on the site…

Keeping prospects aware of looming price increases and/or any specials or incentives. (Just be careful to use this only for prospects sitting on a fence.)…

And many more.

Would You Like Help With This?

The market is booming now, but we know that will not last forever.

We’re dealing with a crazy cocktail of uncertain inventory expectations, supply chain problems, and low availability of labor, as well as pressure to lock in mortgage rates when it’s uncertain whether they’ll go up or down in the future.

The new home sales professionals that follow a proven system are the ones who will thrive, no matter what “the economy” throws at us.

At Sales Solve Everything, we help your sales team sharpen their ability to close more sales in less time, consistently and predictably.

Our time-tested new home selling system leads to happier buyers with less friction at every stage of their journey. Would you like help growing a highly effective sales team for your company?

Let’s chat.

You can reach me here on LinkedIn, visit us at SalesSolveEverything.com, or call our office at (888) 738-4020 to schedule a free 15-Minute Sales Diagnostic Consultation.

There’s no sales pitch and nothing for sale. Just a conversation about any sales management challenge you are facing.

If it looks like we can help, we’ll schedule a more extensive (and also free) 45-Minute Strategy Call. This will be a time for us to get to know you and your company and share with you appropriate solutions.

Real estate markets are cyclical, and downturn follow booms, like the one we’re in today.

Preparing now means that you’ll have the tools to keep going, no matter what the market does.

Let’s talk soon — I look forward to speaking with you!